Mahavatar Narasimha Joins Oscars 2026 Race; To Compete With Zootopia 2 and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle

Mahavatar Narasimha Joins Oscars 2026 Race: The Indian animated mythological film, directed by Ashwin Kumar, has emerged as a major critical and commercial success. The movie, which hit the big screens across the globe in November 2024, emerged as the highest grossing animation film in India, beating The Lion King, and the highest grossing animated film made in India, surpassing the record of the Rajinikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan.

Mahavatar Narasimha Joins Oscars 2026 Race

Now, the Indian cinephiles are all excited about Mahavatar Narasimha yet again, as the Ashwin Kumar directorial has now officially joined the Oscars 2026 race. The movie has secured a place in the Oscars 2026 list of the 35 films that are expected to compete in the Best Animated Feature category. This is truly a big achievement for the film, which is made with a budget of around ₹40 crore.

The recently released official update suggests that Mahavatar Narsimha has entered the final list for an Academy Award nomination, with quite a few internationally acclaimed animation films including The Bad Guys 2, Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, KPop Demon Hunters, and many others.

"Thirty five features are eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the categories' other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process," reads the official statement.

For the uninitiated, Mahavatar Narsimha depicts the story of Narasimha, the fourth avatar of Lord Vishnu. The film takes place in the domain of Devas and Asuras, where the infamous asura ruler Hiranyakashyap is out to avenge his brother Hiranyaksha, who was killed by Vishnu. This film is the first instalment in the cinematic universe. The following film, Mahavatar Parshuram, will depict the story of Lord Vishnu's sixth avatar and is expected to hit the theatres in 2027.